The 5 best podcasts, hosted by women

Hi, I’m Jess, and I’m a little bit obsessed with a good podcast. I find myself listening to episodes of my favourites whilst cleaning, running, driving and in bed at night. The topics I tend to enjoy and lap up the most are around business, motherhood, success, feminism, current affairs and careers.

It seems that I’m not alone with my passion and love of a good podcast though. Medium.com reported that, “As of 2018, there are over 525,000 active podcasts, with over 18.5 million episodes produced”. But why have they grown rapidly in popularity, and why ARE we loving their content so much?

Forbes.com thinks that it is due to the human connection they bring, “It’s information and entertainment, in bite-size chunks, right at our fingertips. Plus, the format of podcasts allows a deeper dive into many subjects — it creates the possibility of long form investigations in a very accessible medium”.

“There’s also a personal element to it too” Forbes.com offers. “Podcasts often create communities. It’s a way of finding like-minded individuals who share your interests”.

So, which ones are the best for modern women, hosted by modern women? Here are my favourites:

THE HIGH LOW

I am a proper groupie of The High Low show; I tune in every week to listen to journalists Dolly Alderton & Pandora Sykes discuss their pick of the latest news, what they’ve recently been reading and listening to, plus any topical current affairs matters. They’re posh and highly intelligent, but there’s warmth and plenty of humour too. I feel as though I’ve gained more knowledge after listening to their weekly episode.

HOW TO FAIL

How to Fail is a gem of a podcast; hosted by author and journalist, Elizabeth Day, whose interview style is mesmerising. She has such interesting and varied guests, such as David Baddiel, Farrah Storr and Alastair Campbell. It celebrates the things that haven’t gone right in people’s lives, and every week a new interviewee explores what their failures taught them about how to succeed better. It’s truly brilliant.

HASHTAG AUTHENTIC

Sara Tasker (Me & Orla blogger and Instagram star) hosts Hashtag Authentic, a show for creative folk. It explores the secrets to online success for dreamers, makers and creatives, with featured guests. It’s packed to the brim with practical tips and stories of all things Instagram, blogging, social media and beyond. I personally love how there is always a strong theme of building communities and being yourself. I find it very inspiring.

CTRL ALT DELETE

Ctrl Alt Delete is a superb tech and social media focused podcast hosted by author Emma Gannon. She interviews people and talks about topics such as creativity, work, wellbeing, the internet, social media, careers and everything in between. Past guests include Lena Dunham, Dawn O’Porter and Mara Wilson. I love listening to this one because it helps me to feel as though I am keeping my finger on the digital pulse.

THE GUILTY FEMINIST

Hilarious, of the LOL kind. Comedian Deborah Frances-White and her guests host this comedy podcast recorded in front of a live audience. Each week they discuss topics “all 21 first century feminists agree on”, while confessing their insecurities, hypocrisies and fears that underlie their lofty principles. If you’re interested in modern women’s issues, but you also want a good laugh about them too, then this is not one to be missed.

There are, of course, plenty more brilliant and inspiring podcasts out there hosted by amazing and wonderful women — but for now, these are the ones I highly recommend. Enjoy!

2 Comments

I really got into podcasts last year, they are great to listen to whilst walking the dogs and also driving (which I seem to do too much of lately!). I haven’t heard of two of these and particularly like the sound of ‘How to Fail’. Thank you for sharing. xx